Church Teaching God gave humans dominion over the earth, thereby making us stewards of creation as we work with Him in His continuing act of creation.
We must constantly consider how our actions glorify or harm this wonderous gift God has entrusted to us. This is a multi-faceted question, which must not be over-simplified.
With a vocation to glorify all life which includes respect for the inviolability and integrity of life, humans find themselves in the presence of all God’s other creatures. We can and are obliged to put them at our own service and to enjoy them, but our dominion over the world requires the exercise of responsibility. It is not a freedom of arbitrary and selfish exploitation. All of creation has value and is “good” in the sight of God. This is a marvelous challenge to human intellect. – 112, 113, Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church.
Living our vocation to be protectors of God’s handiwork is essential to a life of virtue:
it is not an optional or secondary aspect of our Christian experience.
-23, 217, Laudato Si’
The Book of Genesis provides us with certain foundations of Christian anthropology, including the meaning of human activity in the world, which is linked to the discovery and respect of the laws of nature that God has inscribed in the created universe, so that humanity may live in it and care for it in accordance with God’s will. – 37, Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church.
Climate Change
There is urgency to this issue. Every Pope since at least Paul VI has written of our need to shift to a more responsible use of the earth and its abundant resources. The Church accepts that that need is now urgent.
“A very solid scientific consensus indicates that we are presently witnessing a disturbing warming of the climatic system… Humanity is called to recognize the need for changes of lifestyle, production and consumption, in order to combat… at least the human causes which produce or aggravate it. It is true that there are other factors, yet a number of scientific studies indicate that most global warming in recent decades is due to the great concentration of greenhouse gases released mainly as a result of human activity. – Pope Francis, Laudato si’, –23
Energy & Resources
The good steward neither allows the resources entrusted to him to lie fallow or to fail to produce their proper fruit, nor does he waste or destroy them (Matthew 25:14-30). Rather, he uses them responsibly, for the Lord’s purposes, to realize their increase so that he may enjoy his livelihood and provide for the good of his family, his descendants, and his neighbors.
Humanity’s relationship with creation and the creatures of the earth “requires the exercise of responsibility, it is not a freedom of arbitrary and selfish exploitation.” – 115, Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church
One of the higher priority issues in economics is the utilization of resources, that is, of all those goods and services to which economic subjects — producers and consumers in the private and public spheres — attribute value because of their inherent usefulness in the areas of production and consumption… Resources in nature are quantitatively scarce, which means that each individual economic subject, as well as each individual society, must necessarily come up with a plan for their utilization in the most rational way possible, following the logic dictated by the “principle of economizing.” – 346, Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church
Because of the powerful means of transformation offered by technological civilization, it seems that the balance between man and the environment has reached a critical point… A reductionistic conception quickly spread, starting from the presupposition — which was seen to be erroneous — that an infinite quantity of energy and resources are available, that it is possible to renew them quickly, and that the negative effects of the exploitation of the natural order can be easily absorbed… – 461, 462, Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church
Conservation & Sustainable Development
Care for the environment represents a challenge for all of humanity. It is a matter of a common and universal duty, that of respecting a common good, destined for all, by preventing anyone from using “with impunity the different categories of beings, whether living or inanimate — animals, plants, the natural elements — simply as one wishes, according to one’s own economic needs.”
Responsibility for the environment, the common heritage of mankind, extends not only to present needs but also to those of the future… This is a responsibility that present generations have towards those of the future… A correct understanding of the environment… at the same time…must not absolutize nature and place it above the dignity of the human person himself. In this latter case, one can go so far as to divinize nature or the earth, as can readily be seen in certain ecological movements that seek to gain an internationally guaranteed institutional status for their beliefs. – 346, 461-463, Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church
Species Diversity & Wildlife
Man and woman find themselves also in the presence of all the other creatures. They can and are obliged to put them at their own service and to enjoy them, but their dominion over the world requires the exercise of responsibility, it is not a freedom of arbitrary and selfish exploitation. All of creation has value and is “good” in the sight of God, who is its author. Man must discover and respect its value. This is a marvellous challenge to his intellect, which should lift him up as on wings towards the contemplation of the truth of all God’s creatures, that is, the contemplation of what God sees as good in them. Man must recognize all of God’s creatures for what they are and establish with each of them a relationship of responsibility. – 113, Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church
“Each of the various creatures, willed in its own being, reflects in its own way a ray of God’s infinite wisdom and goodness. Man must respect the particular goodness of every creature, to avoid any disordered use of things which would be in contempt of the Creator and would bring disastrous consequences for human beings and their environment.” – 339, Catechism of the Catholic Church
It is a responsibility that must mature on the basis of the global dimension of the present ecological crisis… This perspective takes on a particular importance when one considers, in the context of the close relationships that bind the various parts of the ecosystem, the environmental value of biodiversity, which must be handled with a sense of responsibility and adequately protected… – 466, Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church
Green Party of Ontario The party advocates putting food, water and air first, because they are essential for life now and for future generations.
Energy & Resources
The party advocates:
– shifting from nuclear power generation to purchase of low-cost hydro-electric power from Quebec
– reviewing all costs and fees
Conservation & Sustainable Development
The party states that:
– Ontario is losing 365 acres of farmland a day, on average
– every dollar invested in energy efficiency creates 7 times more jobs than the same dollar invested in oil and gas
– energy retrofits can reduce energy costs up to 50%, saving the average homeowner $1000 per year
The party advocates:
– investing $200 million over 4 years to pay farmers to protect water and store carbon
– requiring enhanced impact assessments prior to issuance of new air emission certificates
– banning fracking
– paying for conservation programs by increasing water-taking fees to a level that recovers costs for sustainable water management programs
– steering businesses and workers toward good sustainable jobs, by redirecting $3.1 billion per year in existing business support programs to target cleantech innovation
– ending subsidies for businesses that pollute
– changing government procurement rules to support low carbon products and services
– investing $4.18 billion in a 4-year green building and business fund to provide grants and loans to help homeowners, renters, and businesses invest in energy conservation
– to finance the grant and loan program, closing the Pickering Nuclear station, replacing the power with low-cost water power from Quebec
– developing a provincial inventory of mining resources to measure the availability of our natural wealth and track the depletion of our natural assets
– continuously updating the provincial soil database to better track and protect the province’s prime farmland, a critical economic resource
Ontario Liberal Party Climate Change
The party states that excuses made by climate deniers cannot go unchallenged. A serious, credible plan to fight climate change needs to include a price on pollution, guarantee cuts in pollution, and must help people lower their emissions and save them money.
The party further states that during its last term in office it:
– ended dirty coal power generation in Ontario
– decided to create a carbon market with Quebec and California, in order to cut costs for businesses and families while guaranteeing that carbon reduction targets will be met with every dollar raised going directly into retrofits to homes schools and businesses, transit infrastructure, and supporting clean technology
– protected more than two million acres of greenbelt, in order to protect the Great Lakes and provincial ecosystem
The party advocates:
– making Ontario part of North America’s largest carbon market, in order to ensure that the province reaches its goal of reducing emissions by 15 per cent by 2020, 37 per cent by 2030 and 80 per cent by 2050
– providing incentives for switching to uptake of electric vehicles and low-carbon trucks and buses
– promoting bicycle lanes and alternative transportation means
– providing rebates to homeowners and businesses to help reduce their carbon footprints through use of insulation, windows and solar panels
– updating the provincial building code with long-term energy efficiency targets for new net zero buildings by 2030
– helping industry, including the agri-food sector, transition to low-carbon technologies through the GreenON Industries and TargetGHG programs
– increasing the availability and use of lower-carbon fuels
– working with First Nation and Métis communities to co-create a transition to non-fossil fuel energy while minimizing impact on the communities
– improving provincial understanding of how agricultural and natural land emits and stores carbon, and maximizes the amount of carbon storage from agriculture
– improving the energy efficiency and comfort of our schools, hospitals, colleges, universities and social housing units
Conservation, Resources & Species
Water
The party states that during its prior term in office it:
– invested over $200 million in comprehensive source water protection and a plan to sustain the Great Lakes, which provide most of the drinking water for the province
– increased the fee for water taking and imposed a two-year moratorium on new or expanded water bottling operations
– to reduce municipal sewage outflows, it invested in wastewater infrastructure, required pollution control plans for key facilities, and supported wastewater optimization programs
The party advocates:
– investing in technologies to remove excessive algae, microplastics, road salt and toxic chemicals from provincial fresh water systems
– protecting Lake Erie by work to reduce phosphorous from agricultural sources and to enhance storm water and wastewater management
– improved management of the effects that population growth and development are having on Lake Ontario
– enhanced monitoring and research to protect the Great Lakes
Species, Diversity & Wildlife
The party states that during its prior term in office it worked to protect natural spaces by:
– establishing Greenbelt and updating land use plans
– taking steps to protect at-risk species and promote their recovery
To protect resources and habitat while addressing invasive species, the party advocates:
– working to achieve the Aichi biodiversity target of 17 per cent of Ontario’s lands and waters, including an initial investment of $15 million to preserve our forests, wetlands and lakes
– halting net loss of wetland areas and by 2030 achieving a net gain in wetland area where wetland loss has been the greatest
– continuing growth of Greenbelt
– ensuring sustainable relocation of excess soil
– diverting food and organic waste from landfills
– strengthening online and on-label disclosure of toxic substances and chemicals in key consumer products, such as household cleaning products, baby products and cosmetics
Ontario Libertarian Party Energy & Resources
The party states that:
– Hydro rates are probably the greatest problem plaguing provincial residents and businesses, but are also the easiest to fix because it is is the direct result of Government policy
– by changing the policy, Hydro rates in Ontario can return to normal and competitive levels in just a year or two
The party advocates:
– ending all energy subsidies, externalities, and price controls on energy and letting natural market forces determine Ontario’s energy mix
– repeal of the Green Energy Act
– elimination of time of use billing
– ending discriminatory delivery charges crushing rural residents
– removing all subsidized power from the grid
– terminating for convenience all subsidized generation contracts
– transferring off the Hydro books all termination costs including past gas plant termination costs, and not requiring Hydro customers to pay for the Government boondoggles
– terminating all Liberal Government appointees from all boards and electricity related entities
The party has published no official statement of its policies concerning:
– climate change
– conservation & sustainable development
– species, diversity & wildlife
Ontario New Democratic Party Climate Change
The party states that:
– Ontarians are proud of their natural heritage, and know that their well-being relies on the health of the environment
– it believes that the transition to a green, low-carbon economy must be fair, and not leave communities behind
– Ontario and Canada face a climate crisis
– it will not be persuaded that resolving the climate crisis is impossible, or unaffordable
– future generations are depending on us to plan ahead
In order to beat the climate crisis, the party advocates:
– bringing Ontario to net-zero emissions by 2050, cutting province-wide emissions by at least 50 percent and making all public buildings net zero by 2030
– preventing natural hazards
– re-introducing a cap and trade program,
– planting one billion trees
– launching the world’s most ambitious building retrofit program, creating 100,000 well-paying jobs that will support the raising of families
In addition, the party advocates:
– devoting 25% of cap-and trade revenues to support low-income, rural, and northern households, and trade-exposed industries
– setting clear greenhouse gas reduction targets that the province can meet
– introduction of a new $50 million no-interest on-bill home retrofit program to help people consume less power at home
– updating the environmental bill of rights to restore accountability, transparency, and public participation whenever the environment is affected
– cleaning up mercury pollution in the English-Wabigoon River system, to restore clean drinking water for the Grassy Narrows and Wabigoon First Nations
– funding a dedicated mercury treatment centre for those affected by mercury poisoning
– maintaining commitment to index the Mercury Disability Fund, and commit an extra $12 million to make retroactive payments to relieve suffering
Energy & Resources
The party advocates:
– responsible integration of renewables such as solar, water, and wind as needs grow
– respect for local decision-making and ensuring that communities have a stake in the benefits from low-cost, zero-emission renewables
– bringing a badly-needed jolt of political energy to get things moving on the ring of Fire, as northern communities have waited too long
– spending $1 billion, to get the Ring of Fire moving, now, collaborating with northern communities and First Nations to quickly begin building infrastructure
– fighting to bring smelting and ferro-chrome processing to Northern Ontario
Conservation & Sustainable Development
The party advocates:
– ensuring that all communities have active transportation plans that include strategies to promote walking, cycling, and other human-propelled transportation
– expanding Ontario’s wild spaces by expanding existing parks and creating new ones in consultation with First Nations
– stopping loss of provincially-significant wetlands
– studies of air pollution and its effects in Sarnia and Hamilton, and other cities as needed
Food & Water
The party states that water is a public trust, and that it will prioritize planning for water needs now and for future generations based on the public interest and sustainable access to water.
The party advocates:
– working with groups such as farmers, academics, gardeners, cooks, and civil society for the creation of a provincial food and water strategy to ensure that every Ontarian, including those in Indigenous communities, has safe, reliable drinking water
– developing a food curriculum that will deliver culturally and regionally appropriate learning about growing and cooking food
– working with the Ministry of Community and Social Services to make food more affordable, and available to low-income families
– setting targets for the reduction of obesity and diet-related illness, and working with all authorities to increase healthy local nutrition options
New Blue Party of Ontario Stewardship of Creation
The party has released no official statement concerning its policies on:
– climate change
– energy & resources
– sustainable development
Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario The party states that it accepts, as a matter of principle, its responsibilities for the preservation of Ontario’s heritage and cultural diversity and the conservation and renewal of our environment for present and future generations
Climate Change
The party advocates:
– in order to put more money in taxpayers’ pockets, scrapping the carbon tax and the Green Energy Act, and reducing gas prices by 10 cents per litre
– challenging any attempt by the federal government to impose a carbon tax on Ontario families in the Supreme Court of Canada
Energy & Resources
The party advocates:
– in order to put more money in taxpayers’ pockets, reducing gas prices by 10 cents per litre
– firing “the 6 million dollar man running Hydro One and lowering hydro bills by 12%
– to help control energy prices and improve stewardship of financial resources, replacing top management of Hydro One
– cancelling new energy contracts
Conservation, Sustainable Development, Species, Diversity & Wildlife
The party advocates:
– hiring more conservation officers and increasing policing of major polluters
– ending bureaucratic review of the Ring of Fire project, to allow it to proceed
– to stimulate growth in the North moving forward with revenue sharing from mining, forestry, and aggregates
– ensure that hunting and fishing revenues go toward their stated purpose of conservation
– setting up an emissions-reduction fund to invest in new technologies within the province
– committing resources to reduce garbage in neighborhoods and parks
Points to Ponder Points to Ponder: Stewardship of Creation
| Consider discussing the following questions with your local candidates, elected officials, and the parties, and with your family, friends, neighbors, coworkers, and fellow parishioners:
Many voices, including scientists, the Vatican, and the United Nations, agree that in order to avoid catastrophic global heating, with resulting unpredictable increases in the number and severity of extreme weather events, loss of agricultural land, particularly in the poorest countries, and collapse of ecosystems, global average temperature increase must be limited to 1.5 degrees Centigrade; and that to achieve such a limit, emissions of carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide must be cut in half by 2030 and brought to zero net increase by 2050. Canada is currently committed is to a 30% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, relative to 2005 levels, by 2030, but according to the auditor general is not on track to meet that goal. – What can or should federal, provincial, and municipal governments, non-governmental organizations, families, and individuals do, if anything, to help prevent irreversible and possibly catastrophic damage to the earth’s atmosphere? – How can or should the provincial government help guide Canada toward a sustainable, adaptable, and resilient economy and life style, in order to protect future generations and those who live in other parts of the world, while enabling Canadians to work at materially-sustaining and spiritually fulfilling jobs? – Should the elimination of single-use plastics, packaging, and implements be made a social priority? If so, what can or should the federal or provincial governments do, or local or charitable organizations? What other issues should be at the top of our climate agenda? |